


Pierced Armor

by katikat



Category: HIStory3 - 圈套 | HIStory3: Trap
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 22:42:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19282690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katikat/pseuds/katikat
Summary: It’s visiting hours in prison today and Shao Fei won’t make it.  (Unbeta'd)





	Pierced Armor

Meng Shao Fei isn’t sure what’s happening, all he knows is that it’s not good. Actually, it’s pretty bad.  _Really_ bad…

One moment he’s giving out orders to his team, there to support their Interpol colleagues, in the next there’s a loud  _bang_ , so very loud and echoing among the derelict warehouses, and Shao Fei’s suddenly flying backwards and hitting the ground, out of breath and in so much pain it feels unreal.

_What?_

_What…?_

There’s a loud buzzing in his ears and his eyes are wide and he can’t breathe, he’s suffocating, and the sky is gray today, it’s been so since the morning, and he can’t breathe,  _he can’t breathe_ , and there’s blood on his tongue, his mouth, it’s overflowing with it…

_What’s happening?_

Then there’s the loud staccato sound of gunfire all around him,  _all around_ , cops shooting and someone -  _their target? -_  shooting back and it’s ridiculous, the hail of bullets flying through the air, so ridiculous, they told them this was a formality, nothing more, so what…?

And Shao Fei, he had his vest on, like Tang Yi implored him to wear, like he  _promised_ to wear, he had it on, really, and still he got shot and there’s blood in his mouth, he’s  _drowning_ in it.

The sky is getting darker.

It’s visiting hours in prison today and Shao Fei won’t make it. His last thought before everything turns black is,  _Tang Yi will be so sad…_

* * *

It’s visiting hours in prison today - and there’s Hong Ye sitting on the other side of the plexi glass partition, not Shao Fei. Not that Tang Yi isn’t happy to see his little sister but, well, he expected  _his lover_ and he would lie if he said he isn’t a little disappointed.

Still, he plans to enjoy this little bit of normalcy. He’s sure there’s a good explanation for why Shao Fei isn’t here and–

He freezes. Because Hong Ye’s eyes are swollen. Her hair and her makeup are perfect like always, she’s dressed immaculately and poised as usually - but her eyes are swollen. And Tang Yi’s so seen her sob many times over the years, he knows what Hong Ye looks like after she cries her eyes out…

Hong Ye  _cried._

And Shao Fei  _isn’t here_.

Tang Yi sits down slowly and he picks up the receiver on his side of the partition and he waits for her to do the same and when she does–

“Where is Shao Fei?”

Hong Ye starts crying again.

* * *

She tells him that Shao Fei was shot and that he’s in the ICU.

He tells his lawyers to get him to see his lover.

“I don’t care who you have to threaten or bribe, get me to see him. Now!”

They don’t have to threaten or bribe anyone. He’s allowed a supervised visit. And nobody’s looking him in the eye…

It’s bad. It’s really,  _really_ bad.

* * *

Still, it takes them two whole days to cut through all the bureaucratic bullshit. Two  _endless_ days. Every time the door clangs in the corridor, Tang Yi expects someone to stop at his cell, to hear that his lover died, that Shao Fei is gone. Any moment now. Any moment…

But it doesn’t happen and finally -  _finally!_ \- the guards lead him out, his prison garb anything but inconspicuous, his hands cuffed to his belt. They think him a flight risk.

_Idiots._

Zhao Zi is waiting at his car, pale and subdued and looking as if he might burst into tears at the first harsh word. Quietly, he holds the passenger door open for Tang Yi who gets in.

They drive.

“How did it happen?” Tang Yi asks halfway there, breaking the silence between them for the first time. “He promised to wear a vest!”

Zhao Zi’s hands tighten around the steering wheel. “He did,” he say, his voice raspy,  _broken_. “They used armor piercing rounds.”

_Fuck._

* * *

Zhao Zi takes him in through the Employee Only Entrance. He doesn’t want anyone to see Tang Yi. When Tang Yi asks why, he says simply, “Once you’ve served your sentence, you’ll go on living in this city. You’re entitled to keeping your dignity.”

Suddenly, Tang Yi understands why Shao Fei and Zhao Zi are best friends.

* * *

It’s Jian Jian who personally escorts them to the ICU. He looks drawn. “One bullet, directly to the chest. It went through the vest and narrowly missed his heart. I did my best but the damage is pretty extensive.”

They stop at the door to Shao Fei’s room. The way Jian Jian keeps rubbing his forehead, the worry in his eyes… it makes Tang Yi’s anxiety skyrocket. “What’s the prognosis?” Tang Yi asks.

Jian Jian sighs. “Right now, I just want him to wake up. The longer he remains unconscious…” He shakes his head. “I fear he’s going to just slip away.”

Tang Yi swallows hard.  _This isn’t happening._

He startles a bit when Zhao Zi steps around him, and though he doesn’t take off Tang Yi’s handcuffs completely - he’s too conscientious to break the rules to that extent - he at least unlocks them from Tang Yi’s belt, giving him some freedom of movement. Then, looking Tang Yi straight in the eyes, he says, “Please, don’t make me regret this.”

Tang Yi nods.

They let him in.

* * *

Hong Ye once tried to describe to him what it was like seeing him in the ICU after Chen Wen Hao shot him in the chest. But she didn’t get out more than a few words before her throat closed up and tears welled up in her eyes.

Now Tang Yi understands.

There are so many machines, blinking away quietly, it terrifies him. Shao Fei’s always felt small to him but now… now he seems almost fragile, lying there so pale and unmoving in the hospital bed with a tube down his throat to help him breathe, all his coiled up, bottomless energy spent.

Slowly, Tang Yi walks up to the bed, and reaching out, he squeezes Shao Fei’s cold fingers. The chain on his handcuffs tinkles softly.

“Hey…” Tang Yi whispers and he has to blink hard to push back tears.

There’s no reaction. None at all.

Tang Yi wishes that Shao Fei would wake up. He wishes it so very badly that his chest grows tight. That  _want_ , that  _need_ is so overwhelming that his fingers tingle with it and his ears are filled with the rushing sound of white noise.

“Wake up…”

He  _needs_ Shao Fei to be alright. He  _needs_ him to come back. He  _needs_ him to open his eyes and smile again. He  _needs_ it as much as he needs air.

Careful so as not to dislodge any wires or tubes, Tang Yi bends over Shao Fei, and touching his face gently, he presses his lips to Shao Fei’s forehead with all the love he has for this man. He whispers, “Wake up, Shao Fei. Come back to me. Please…  _Please_!”

* * *

There’s a tinkling sound, like chimes in the distance…

Shao Fei just wants to sleep.

But then there’s a touch, warm fingers slipping into his cold hand, squeezing gently. There’s something familiar about it…

What?

_… hey…_

Who?

_… wake up…_

Why?

_… come back to me…_

But he’s so tired.

_… please…_

But…

_… please!_

Oh.

Alright.

* * *

When Shao Fei’s eyelids flutter, breath catches in Tang Yi’s chest.

“Yes. Yes, that’s it,” he says softly, stroking Shao Fei’s unruly hair fondly. “Open your eyes. Do it for me…”

And Shao Fei does.

His eyelids flutter again and then they open very,  _very_  slowly, revealing clouded, unfocused eyes. They roam around for a moment before they settle on Tang Yi, still bent down over him - and then Shao Fei smiles.

It’s just a small quirk of his lips wrapped around the breathing tube in his mouth but it’s enough. It’s more than Tang Yi hoped for. It’s  _everything_

And whispering a heartfelt, “I love you,” Tang Yi finally lets himself cry.


End file.
